Amadu Kabir Njie <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
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Malaria Vaccine Trial Set For Gambia
Malaria Vaccine Trial Set For Gambia
March 3, 2000
NEW YORK, US (PANA) - Smithkline Beecham, a leading pharmaceutical company,
has announced it would commence trials of its new malaria vaccine among
children in Gambia.
A news release by the company Thursday said that the trials could start as
early as the last quarter of 2000.
Clinical trials of the vaccine conducted in Gambia had shown promising
results, the company added.
Smithkline's announcement came as US President Bill Clinton met in Washington
Thursday with heads of leading pharmaceutical companies and the board of the
recently formed Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation to discuss his
millennium vaccine initiative.
The initiative seeks to encourage pharmaceutical companies to develop vaccines
for deadly diseases such as malaria, HIV and Tuberculosis.
The chief executive officer of Smithkline Beecham, Jean-Pierre Garnier, was
reported to have reaffirmed at the meeting the pledge of his company to donate
about five billion doses of Albendazone worth one billion dollars in the fight
to eliminate lymphatic filariasis.
Nigeria, Egypt and Western Samoa were the first set of countries to benefit
from the elimination programme, started late 1999.
Another set of 12 countries are to join the programme in 2000. The elimination
programme is spread over 20 years.
Meanwhile, the alliance has reported that nearly 50 countries, majority of
them from Africa, have responded to its call to eligible countries to submit
an "expression of interest" to its programme to step up immunisation
activities.
Countries with per capita income of less than 1,000 dollars a year are
qualified to participate.
Countries that have expressed their interest include 26 from Africa, 11 from
Eastern Europe, six from Asia, three from Latin America and one from the
Middle East.
Among African countries are Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic,
Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya,
Lesotho, Liberia and Madagascar.
Others are Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Senegal,
Sierra Leone, Togo, Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia.
Formed in 1999 to ensure that every child is protected against
vaccine-preventable diseases, the alliance has as its members, national
governments, UN agencies, pharmaceutical manufacturers, the World Bank,
foundations and research and technical health institutions.
Folks, does this mean that Gambian children are being used as guinea pigs to
test the effectiveness of a new product.
Daddy Sang
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